The Importance Of Being Honest

How important is it to be honest? This question hung over my head today. I was at Baltimore's premier theater, Center Stage, last night to see Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest.' I've been aware of Wilde and his works for years but I've never bothered to read them. I don't know why, just never got to it. His works are not the only ones I've placed on the back burner - I've made many unfulfilled promises to read Tolstoy's 'Anna Karenina' and even Ken Follet's 'The Pillars Of The Earth' - two mega books that would probably take weeks to finish.

It's apparent that there's always an underlying message in a play or book that the author wants to transmit. Nobody writes a book for no reason. If books were pages of paper filled with just lines of he said, she said, then nobody would buy them. Before you read a book or see a play, you may need to ask yourself, who is this and what is he/she about?

I try not to be one of those people who over-analyze things and attempt to see more than meets the eye. I like to keep things simple and avoid bias. Sometimes art (and drama) is just art; meant to be taken lightly. However, what if the offending point is in writing? What if you read a book and the author makes a statement that you find offensive to you as a person or perhaps to your religion? This is when the question of whether to voice your distaste or not comes in.

Last night, I had a good time. I enjoyed the play; I was in pleasant company. I did some "research" before going to see it. Obviously, Wilde was a controversial writer, but I felt that the level of controversy he had then wouldn't have earned him a front page in the tabloids today.

I went to see the play expecting to come out of the theater without feeling any indifference towards Wilde.

During the play, I was taken aback by minor details like the set design. But after a few exchanges of jest and jibe between the characters, I managed to forget the insignificant nuisances.

Then break came - the lights went out and came back on. I took a restroom visit and while I was returning to my seat, I decided to take pictures of the display on the walls. Center Stage always does a good job at making the theater visually pleasing. I liked what they had done with the brick walls in the hallway - there were photos of Wilde, and scattered around his photos were his quotes in ink on plain white paper. As a visual person, I couldn't resist admiring these. Immediately, I took out my cell phone and took some pictures. My error was in not taking time to read the quotes. Break was soon over, I returned to my seat and watched the rest of the play feeling fulfilled. Then I went home.

Tonight, I decide to upload the photos and paste them here accompanied with big yippies and hoorahs for Wilde. In the process , I zoomed in on them to read the quotes. The first photo was full of witty quotes- nothing worth flipping out on. The second photo was what triggered in me the desire to be blatantly honest. A hundred and some years later, Wilde has done it again. He has managed to someone, me, who rarely gets offended. Wilde's quote, "I think God overestimated his ability when he created man" left a taste in my mouth that reminds me of eating fruit that looks fresh and delicious on the outside but is rotten on the inside.

I bet Wilde saw the importance of being downright earnest and had to say what he thought. Now, it's my turn to be honest. Wilde, did you ever know the importance of being decent?